The Female Athlete Triad: Prevention by Awareness

With a thorough breakdown of the Female Athlete Triad, this research project isolates the level of awareness that Kentucky High School Coaches have concerning the life-threatening disorder. The effects of the Triad include, but are not limited to disordered eating, amenorrhea, and osteoporosis. The disorder is not simply cured, which is why the Female Athlete Triad’s effects can last a lifetime. With the Triad on the rise around the world, awareness is the key to preventing more female athletes from becoming affected, and not only prematurely ending their athletic careers, but their lives altogether. My study aimed to assess the level of knowledge that coaches of female sports around the state of Kentucky have in regards to detecting and preventing the disorder among their female athletes. As I hypothesized, the majority of coaches were inadequately equipped with the necessary knowledge to recognize and/or manage the Female Athlete Triad. In addition to this finding, I obtained results that indicated the Triad occurs frequently within the teams of the coaches that completed the questionnaire. Undoubtedly, the objective was not to only highlight the dangers associated with the Triad, but reinforce the idea that by implementing awareness and prevention, the Female Athlete Triad will no longer be on the rise; rather, the syndrome will be on a sharp decline in young female athletes